Rick Porcello Hasn’t Been Any Better Than Dontrelle Willis

Rick Porcello isn’t a very good pitcher right now. Actually, Porcello hasn’t been very good for most of his time in Detroit. Porcello is still considered a good young pitching prospect, but his numbers belie that notion. In fact, Porcello has arguably been worse than the recently jettisoned Dontrelle Willis.

Porcello: 4.15 K/9, 1.669 WHIP, 5.27 ERA

Willis: 6.9 K/9, 1.777 WHIP, 4.98 ERA

Obviously, Porcello and Willis were and are at completely different stages of their careers, and the Tigers were just about finished with their salary obligations to Willis, while Porcello is under contract through 2012. However, Porcello’s numbers this season have been truly ghastly.

In particular, Porcello’s low strikeout numbers are killing his effectiveness. It is very rare for a starting pitcher to have any long-term success with a strikeout rate such as Porcello’s. When hitters don’t strike out, they have a chance to do something damaging, and all those extra opportunities have turned into hits this season, as Porcello has allowed an absurd .345 batting average on balls in play. That number will surely go down, although Porcello has also been somewhat lucky this season when it comes to allowing home runs, so the net effect may be negligible.

Porcello’s low strikeout totals have been a concern from the beginning, and it now looks like Tigers may have ruined him. Porcello has now made 41 starts for Detroit, and has a career ERA of 4.28. Porcello is making over a million dollars this season, and it isn’t clear that the Tigers have a better option in the rotation. Porcello is still just 21. However, the status quo isn’t working, and the Tigers need to encourage Porcello to alter his repertoire in the hope of achieving better results.